


That's Distracting!

by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Based on Gifset, First Date, Gen, M/M, Single Parent Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 08:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10760709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/triggeringthehealing
Summary: Maybe it was the fact that he refused to leave that one fact off the profile that his friends set up for him. Maybe it was that he didn't want to lie about her. Still, his plan is to come in, cancel the date, and leave.Plans apparently change.





	That's Distracting!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eMoussie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eMoussie/gifts).



> This fic was inspired by [this gifset](https://froggydarren.tumblr.com/post/160118615354) and Dylan's face. And several responses to the gifset with fic ideas, none of which actually came to life in this work.
> 
> It's also a belated birthday present to my darling Juu <3

It feels like it's been forever since he's done this, and like he should've known it was going to go badly. He isn't even sure why he let Erica and Isaac talk him out of deleting the profile they set up for him. What he understands even less is why he looked at it, or why he clicked on that one profile that caught his eye. 

Derek huffs in frustration as he weaves through the crowds in the mall and heads towards the food court. It seemed like a good idea the night before, a public place, open and safe, somewhere that provided an easy way out. Now, he's wondering if it won't be a little  _ too easy _ . Not for him, but… 

He spots the messy brown hair as soon as he leaves the elevator, and he also sees the brown eyes below the hair widen in surprise. They're what attracted him to the profile in the first place, and his breath catches now that he sees them in person, even brighter and  _ more _ attractive than in the photo. 

“Derek?” 

It's odd to have a voice to match the face, and he only manages to nod in confirmation. 

“Wow, you're…” 

“I'm sorry,” Derek interrupts. “I should've just messaged you, but I don't know if you'd check the app this close to the meeting…”

He huffs when he feels the kick against his hip. The carrier is digging into his shoulders in a way that's both familiar and unsettling. 

“Who's this?” Stiles asks, eyes straying from Derek’s face to the baby strapped to Derek’s chest. 

The question is simple and so sincere that Derek doesn't think twice before replying automatically. 

“Lia, my daughter,” he says, his hand coming up to catch her flailing arm before she hits him in the face. 

It wouldn't be her first time. 

“She's  _ adorable _ ,” Stiles says, his whole face bright and open as he smiles. 

“Look, I'm really sorry. My babysitter cancelled, and I was already in the area, so I figured I'd just let you know in person,” Derek says quickly, heat rising in his cheeks. “We can.. I mean, I get if you don't want to…”

“What, no, why wouldn’t I want to? What am I not supposed to want?” Stiles asks, looking puzzled as his eyes dart between Derek and Lia’s faces. “Come on, have a seat! Unless you have somewhere to go?” 

It’s not the answer Derek was expecting. He knows that Stiles was aware that Derek is a single father -- it’s one of the things he refused to leave out of his profile -- but he’s had bad experiences with people before when Lia was mentioned. He’d been on a few dates where the men and women he met made it clear that they wouldn’t appreciate Lia being included in anything. Stiles being so open to Derek staying even though he had her with him was surprising. 

“No,” he finally says, and slides into the chair across from Stiles. 

“Okay,” Stiles says with a smile. “Now that we got that sorted…”

They fall into easy conversation that starts with food suggestions and quickly morphs into a steady flow. Stiles goes off on tangents, and Derek finds that he enjoys it in person as much as he did when they were just chatting. 

Lia, in the meantime, fusses enough that Derek grabs one of the nearby high chairs, sets her in it, and lets her loose on a small plate of carrot sticks. Once she’s no longer strapped in the carrier on Derek’s chest, he notices Stiles’ attention drifting from Derek’s face and towards her. 

“Aw man, that’s adorable,” he says eventually, in the middle of a ramble about his college. “ _ That _ is distracting,” he adds.

Derek glances at Lia, who seems to be studying one of the carrot sticks that she hasn’t gnawed on with her barely there teeth yet. When her attention is drawn away from it and she looks across the table instead, Derek follow her gaze and it lands on Stiles’ face. 

He hears the giggle next to him as he watches Stiles’ face twist into an exaggerated surprised expression, then into a big smile. 

“She’s so cute!” Stiles says when he glances back at Derek. “Man, I’m kind of glad you did show up with her. I mean, you’re already great, but she’s totally giving you extra points with that face.” 

“Oh,” Derek breathes out, surprised again at Stiles’ words. 

“What? She’s so sweet, she’s gotta be a total magnet for people,” Stiles says, looking a little confused. 

“Actually, anyone so far pretty much ran when I mentioned her,” Derek tells him with a bitter tone in his voice. “I mean, they knew, it’s on my profile, and still…” 

For the need to have something to hold on to, Derek reaches for Lia’s little hand, and cringes a little when he realises that it’s covered in drool and carrot pieces. With a practiced ease, he digs out a baby wipe out of the pouch on the carrier that he hung up on the side of her high chair and starts cleaning her fingers, glad for the distraction from the conversation. 

“Stupid people,” he hears Stiles mumble. “How did something like this not melt everyone? I don’t even…  _ man _ .” 

It doesn’t feel like Stiles is talking  _ to _ Derek, more like he’s musing to himself. Right after, the words become unintelligible, no matter how Derek strains his ears. With so little surface to cover with the wipe, he cleans it in less time than he wanted to, and he dares a glance across the table again. Stiles has gone quiet, and when Derek’s eyes find him, he’s looking at Lia with a fond smile on his lips. It makes Derek’s heart skip with joy. 

Their eyes meet then, and Derek doesn’t know whether he should say something, or wait until Stiles speaks. The moment is broken when Lia lets out an unhappy grumble a few beats later, and pushes the leftovers of her carrots almost off the tray. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll have to…” Derek starts, and watches as Stiles’ face falls. “She’s getting fussy, which means it’s almost her nap time. I have about ten minutes to get her somewhere she can sleep before all hell breaks loose.” 

He’s already reaching for and putting on the carrier when Stiles takes a deep breath and then lets it out with a sigh that seems disappointed. 

“Okay, sure, yeah,” Stiles says. “I get that. I mean, I hope it’s not you trying to get away from me. If it’s not, maybe you’d want to do this,” he waves a hand between them, a gesture that Derek barely notices, “some other time again? I’d certainly like to meet you again. Both of you.” 

Derek pauses halfway into strapping Lia in and he gets rewarded with an unhappy grumble from her. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, man,” Stiles nods when their eyes meet. “I’d love to get to know you better, and you two look like a package deal, so…” 

“We are,” Derek agrees. “It’s just that no one seemed to… be interested in all of this,” he nods down at Lia, who’s getting increasingly fussy. 

“That’s because they don’t know what’s good for them,” Stiles says with a bright smile. “Not that I mind, at least it meant that you stuck around on the app and we got to meet. So, what do you say? Try again?”

“I’d like that,” Derek says quietly. 

He has Lia strapped back in the carrier, and he checks the table and chairs to make sure he didn’t forget anything, then he looks at Stiles again. 

“I’ll… message you. Or you message me,” he blurts out, feeling a little flustered. 

“I will,” Stiles nods with enthusiasm.

Then he finally gets up off his chair and walks around the table before he comes to a halt at a short distance from Derek. 

“It’s been a pleasure, Miss Lia,” he says, reaching for her hand and dropping a gentle kiss on the back of it. “And you, Derek,” he adds when he looks up. “Hope to see you both soon.”

“Me too,” Derek replies, and then he turns away to head for the elevator. A little bit later, he sees Stiles following its movement as it descends. For the first time since Erica and Isaac signed him up on the dating app, he’s wondering if he should get them both a gift basket. 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/) || [my sterek fic tumblr](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/)


End file.
